REVIEW: Eclipse (Board Game)

Along with Cosmic Encounter and Twilight Imperium, Eclipse is yet another game with a space theme, and you'd be forgiven for thinking I was obsessed with the theme or it was one of my favourites; I'm not, in fact these are (besides Space Hulk) the only space themed games that I own. The simple truth is that these are just some of the best games out there, and despite it being a relatively new game for me (and you could argue I'm suffering "the cult of the new" here) Eclipse has just shot straight into my top ten. To glance at the pictures on this review you've also be forgiven for thinking "that just looks the same as Twilight Imperium" as both games share the same hex-board layout, plastic space ship miniatures, and a zillion tons of cardboard components. But they really are different beasts, as Eclipse is much more of an economic eurogame, but disguised behind a solid and different (for a euro) theme. I know some people will be immediately repulsed by the idea of banking in space, and I've jokingly called it "intergalactic recession" since I always seem to be making a loss for most of the game, but it really is fantastic fun. Also, whereas Twilight Imperium is a deeply complex and long game to play, Eclipse is actually (after a difficult explanation of the rules) pretty easy to play and lasts about 3 hours.

As in Twilight Imperium, the aim of Eclipse is to build your intergalactic empire up from humble beginnings into a vast interstellar civilization... and of course accumulate victory points in order to actually win. You gain VPs by exploring and colonising new worlds, by researching new technology for your civilization, by building large monoliths (think '2001: A Space Odyssey') as legacies to your advanced culture, and by assembling an armada and smashing your enemies to smithereens. All of this is done with careful scrutiny of your resources, especially money as it is very easy to bankrupt your empire by expanding too fast and throwing too much money into things that you can't really afford. This is really where Eclipse shines as a good eurogame as the majority of the gameplay comes from balancing how much money you spend to aquire other resources, which in turn aquire technology or are used to build space ships. Before I more on to space ships, and combat, it is worth just mentioning how much fun it is to simply explore the galaxy in Eclipse. You see, in games like Twilight Imperium you already know what the galaxy looks like at the start of the game - you have to really as it's what shapes your strategy, movement of your armadas, etc. In Eclipse though, you have true exploration, which involves turning over tiles as you go and not knowing the layout and structure of surrounding systems until you have explored there.

During this blind exploration you will, at some point, likely run into some hostile ancient aliens - which after the first expansion now come in all sorts of shapes and sizes - from the odd straggler to ancient homeworlds and hives. This is likely where you'll get your first taste of combat, which is great fun in Eclipse and rewarded with VPs, even just for taking part. Shooting aliens, and each other, is a dice chucking affair with a load of different coloured D6s representing different strength weapons, and your rolls are modified by all sorts of technology like targeting computers, shields, armoured hulls, ect. All these juicy components for your space ships can be upgraded on your individual player boards, which also keep track of technology you have researched as well as your available resources. Building your custom space ships is a neat little game in and of itself, as you perform a delicate balancing act of power consumption vs firepower/defense/maneuverability. All-in-all, Eclipse is just a fantastic game, it takes the space empire building concept of larger games and turns it into a streamlined eurogame, playable in a few hours; it won't scratch the exact same itch, but it has its own charms and has quickly become one of my favourite games.